Beehive



(No Model.)

B. TAYLOR BEEHIVE.

No. 519,652. Patented May 8, 1894.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BARNETT TAYLOR, OF FORESTVILLE, MINNESOTA. I

BEEHIVE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 519,652, dated May 8, 1 894.

' Application filed July 1, 1893. Serial N0.4'79,411. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, BARNETT TAYLOR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Forestto enable the progeny of two or more queens to work as, one colony, so far as the workers are concerned.

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the claim hereto attached.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a double hive constructed in accordance with'this invention, the covers being removed. Fig. 2 is a central vertical sectional view taken transversely of the hive compartments. Fig. 3 is a similar view taken longitudinally through one of the hive compartments. Fig. 4 is a detail view of one of the spacing devices.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in the several'figures'of the drawings.

1 designates a hive body which is rectangular and is divided by a thin partition 2, into two hive compartments, and has its bottom 3, projecting outward from its front and back to form alighting boards 4, and has front and back entrances 5, extending entirely across the hive body. Thebee entrances 5, are adapted to be closed or partially closed by detachable strips 6, which have their inner adjacent ends beveled or cut at an angle at 7 to form a flaring entrance when two strips are placed in position as illustrated in Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawings; but the strips 6 are adapted to be removed and arranged to form openings at the back and front of the hive compartments as hereinafter fully de scribed.

The fastening device of each strip 6, which is of a length equal to the width of one of the I compartments, is preferably a pointed pin or the like, which may be readily inserted in the alighting board by a slight pressure and which will enable the strips to be readily detached, and adjusted as desired. 7

The thin. vertical foraminous partition 2, preferably consists of a board or frame having an inner opening and sheets of gauze 8 secured to both faces of the board or frame. The front and rear walls of the hive body are rabbeted at their upper edges at their inner faces to form shoulders 9; but the shoulders may be formed by cleats or other equivalent means. Strips 10, of sheet metal, are secured to the inner faces of the front and rear walls of the hive body in each compartment and have their upper edges projecting above said shoulders 9, and provided with notches to receive supporting projections 11, of brood frames 12. The supporting projections 11 of the brood frames, by resting in the notches 13 of the sheet metal strips, properly space the brood frames to prevent the latter from being glued together by the honey secretions.

The hive body may, as will be readily understood, be provided with any suitable construction of supers and queen excluding division boards; but in the accompanying drawings only covers 14 are shown.

The hive is a double one for two colonies with a thin partition between them; there is an entrance the entire width of both hives, both front and rear; and these entrances are closed by the heavy strips 6, when desired, extending the whole width of each hive, two in front and two in the rear. When the bees are set out in the spring, the rear blocks or strips 6, will be moved together until the rear of the hive body is entirely closed. The front ones will be placed so as to have the entrancefor both hives in the center of the body at the front thereof with only the narrow partition that divides the two colonies between them. The bees of both colonies thus use, as it were, the same entrance and will go into either hive just as they happen to alight, and all work as one colony so far as the bees are concerned. r

The brood frames 12 are spaced at their bottoms at one side of the hive by spacing devices 16, which are interposed between the brood frames, and pins 17 arranged at the outer edges of the end brood frames. The spacing devices 16 are constructed of wire,

and consist of L-shaped sides and a curved cross piece connecting the upper ends of the sides.

At the blossoming of white clover, entirely close the entrance at the front of one of the hive compartments compelling all the bees to go into the other hive compartment, and the contents of the super of the closed hive should be transferred to the super of the open hive, when supers are employed; and the rear entrance of the hive which is closed at the front is opened. On the morning of the sixth day transfer the contents of the super of the open hive to the super of the closed one and open the front entrance of the latter and close the rear entrance thereof. Then close the front entrance to the other hive compartment and open its rear entrance, and when this colony is deserted by the working bees, look for and destroy queen cells, and repeat every six days, thus keeping both queens laying all the time, and working their bees in an undivided colony during the season.

The thin partition between the colonies is for the purpose of keeping the deserted hive warm and for keeping the brood from getting chilled, and for separating the queens.

From the foregoing description and the accompanying drawings, the construction, operation and many advantages of the herein described invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

Changes in the form, proportion and the minor details of construction, may be resorted to without departing from the principle or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention, such as constructing the thin vertical transparent foraminous partition of one or more sheets of wire gauze or of other suitable material.

What I claim is- The combination with a hive body provided at its front and back with continuous bee entrances extending entirely across it, a

BARNETT TAYLOR.

Witnesses:

W. L. KELLOGG, CLARA KELLOGG. 

